A Great City Needs Great Newspapers

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The Save Philly Newspapers Coalition applauds the Newspaper Guild and the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com on reaching an agreement that will, at least for the next two years, preserve our newspapers. We’re especially pleased that the agreement removes the threat to the established writers and editors who are central to great journalism in Philadelphia as seniority rules will not be changed and wage cuts will be held to 2.5 percent. We recognize, however, that even though the Newspaper Guild and the other unions have made painful sacrifices, the long term sustainability of the newspapers remains an issue. So we intend to stay active in representing the interest of the community in ensuring that our great city keeps the great newspapers it needs.

Congressman Chaka Fattah, a supporter of the coalition said today: “If Philadelphia is to remain a world class city, it requires world class newspapers. The Inquirer and Daily News have proven to be leaders in the field of reporting because of the experienced journalists that are committed to Philadelphia’s story. I’m pleased that the owners value that principle and have reached an agreement with the Guild. I applaud the committed advocacy of the Save Philly Newspapers Coalition for their support of the journalists and the public interest while an agreement was in negotiation.”

The Save Philly Newspapers Coalition is grateful to the hundreds of people who signed our petition, supported us on Facebook, and sent encouraging messages as well as to the organizations, businesses, and political leaders who joined us including Congressman Fattah, Keystone Progress, the Philadelphia NAACP, and, especially, Pat Eiding, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO and Lance Haver, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs. This support was critical to reaching an acceptable outcome. We will announce further steps we can take together to preserve great journalism in Philadelphia.

We welcome your ideas. And feel free to share this message who might be interested in these efforts. They can stay I touch by emailing me at MarcStier@stier.net or by signing the petition which remains on-line at http://savephillypapers.org.

We’ve had some technical difficulties on this page so some of the signatures aren’t showing up. In order to stop people from signing for others, we send an email to everyone who signs, asking them to confirm their signature. Some people haven’t gotten those confirmation emails. nd some don’t answer them. We think the problem with sending them is now resolved. But please respond to the confirmation emails!

Imagine getting up in the morning and walking to your front door and there is no Inquirer or Daily News there. Or logging on to your computer to check the headlines and Philly.com comes up with an error message.

That’s what we Philadelphians are facing in our immediate future because the new owners of our newspapers have threatened to “liquidate” them. That’s why I’m asking you to take action to prevent this devastating blow to our city today by signing our petition at SavePhillyPapers.org

Or imagine opening up your paper and reading an article about politics written by a new arrival to our city who doesn’t know the difference between Frank Rizzo and John Street. Or an article on the Phillies by a kid fresh out of college who doesn’t know the difference between Mike Schmidt and the Philly Phanatic.

Everyone knows that newspapers are in economic difficulty. So do the journalists who are members of the Newspaper Guild. So when the new owners of the newspapers went to the Guild and asked them to open up a contract that runs until October 2013, the Guild agreed. And when the new owners asked for a $7.1 million reduction compensation to their members, the Guild reluctantly agreed again.

But when the new owners—who not nine months ago promised us that they were “patient capital” in the newspaper business for the long haul—raised their demand to give them the right to fire long established writers at the newspapers, the Guild said no.

And they were right to do so. Not just because any worker who has put years into learning to do a job well deserves to be treated with respect but because the newspaper can’t do their job without experienced journalists who have the knowledge, insight, and experience gained over many years to know where the truth is buried and to challenge anyone, whether they are political officials or star athletes.

So this fight is no longer about the compensation of journalists (and sales, circulation, and other workers) at the papers. It’s about us, our democracy and our city. It’s about saving the great newspapers which make a great city possible.

That’s why a group of activists, labor leaders and business men and women have come together to form SavePhillyPapers.org. We’re asking you to join us today! There is no time to lose because the new owners are ready to disregard their promises and their responsibility to the city and “liquidate” the newspapers in the next week or so.

--Less than nine months ago you promised to be “patient capital” who would save the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.

--Today you threaten to liquidate them. Or to replace all the reporters who know and understand our city with new, much cheaper models.

--This is unacceptable. A great city needs great newspapers. You don’t make our newspapers great. The printing presses don’t do it. The mastheads don’t do. It’s experienced and knowledgeable reporters that make the Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer what they are today.

--We demand that you make a fair deal with the Newspaper Guild that protects the seniority of the reporters we know and trust. We demand that you fulfill your promise to preserve the newspapers that help make our city great.

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Marc Stier,

Dennis Biondo, Less than nine months ago you promised to be “patient capital” who would save the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.

--Today you threaten to liquidate them. Or to replace all the reporters who know and understand our city with new, much cheaper models.

--This is unacceptable. A great city needs great newspapers. You don’t make our newspapers great. The printing presses don’t do it. The mastheads don’t do. It’s experienced and knowledgeable reporters that make the Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer what they are today.

--We demand that you make a fair deal with the Newspaper Guild that protects the seniority of the reporters we know and trust. We demand that you fulfill your promise to preserve the newspapers that help make our city great.

Jacinta Dolniak,

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Dan Hajdo,

xxxxxxxx, Tangible press should always have a place in this world.

xxxxxxxx, To destroy this fantastic publication and the livelyhood of so many "seasoned" and dedicated writers and other senior staff members would be both a travesty and a total diservice to so many people who rely on the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. Please reconsider and save these newspapers as well as the jobs of these loyal and faithful employees.

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Joe Sixpack,

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Lesley Wendell,

Connie Gilday,

Jennifer Baker,

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A. M. Weaver, Philadelphia definitely needs daily publications with relevant and well thought out journalism. The flimsy publications that are now being produced often don't used seasoned and well trained writers and editors. The tradition and integrity of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News need to be maintained!

Nate Todd,

Chad stern,

Ariel E Stern,

Rita M. Dutton,

Thom Cahir,

Alice Cervantes,

Shannon Monteith,

Stephen Seplow,

MP Tomei, The problem of our misinformed public will not be solved by less experienced reporters being paid less. The Fourth Estate is a critical part of our functioning democracy. Please preserve the integrity of the Philadelphia press corps. There are few things left that unite a region in the way a newspaper can. The loss of these 2 institutions to this area will not be measured only in dollars.

CW, I Love the Sunday Inquirer.

Debi Baker, I gave 33 years of my life to the Daily News and it breaks my heart to see the committed, dedicated journalists treated with such contempt.

Will Bunch,

Debby Zabarenko,

Kevin P. O\'Brien,

John Brumfield,

Richard Titley,

Kristen Forbriger,

Jed Levin, A daily newspaper is a prerequisite for a healthy democracy.

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Kathryn Beschen,

Christine Johnson-Hall, Please show that you value the long-standing tradition of journalistic excellence at the Inquirer and Daily News by making a fair deal with reporters and editors, whose integrity we rely on.

Joy Manning,

David Cohen,

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Pete Ferrara,

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Deb Shulman-Brecher,

Janet Elfring,

Patricia McNamara,

Chris Reynolds, Please abandon the brinksmanship. Marginalizing your product and the people involved in its production is distasteful to your heretofore loyal readers, and it can't be appealing to your advertisers.

Barbara Rocca,

Steve Masters, I am a long-term subscriber to both the Daily News and Inquirer.

Kathy Black,

robert greenage, The printed press is the only resource to really get the news. The crap on cable is biased rhetoric for both sides. The Inquirer gives clear unbiased reporting along with opinions from all across the political spectrum. Along with the reporting such as the DHS scandal. There is nowhere else to get this. To close the paper and sell off the assets would be a gross violation of the public trust.

Mary K. Bingler,

Paul Grubb, "Patient Capital" - Not sure what that is. Appears "Vulture Capital" is more accurate. Thanks to George Norcross, a son and a brother of union organizers no less!

Kerry Kohring,

xxxxxxxx, The paper is so important for our democracy and I really enjoy a hard copy each morning.

Ginny Diehm, I worked at the paper from 1969 to 2006. I am so very sad to see what's happening there.

Theresa Conroy,

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Mary Schmitt and Matthew Moxey,

Regina Malik, A great city is nothing without a great newspaper. I believed that was what you hoped to achieve when you purchased these papers. Would you really want the history of Philadelphia to list your names as those who destroyed these papers?

James O\'Brien,

Gail Lopez-Henriquez,

Charles Clarke,

Charles R Sharpe,

Barbara beck,

Sue Henick,

xxxxxxxx, Our paper is not your asset any more than the sunset on my property belongs to me. It is yours to guard and not dispense with.

William Worth, I love these papers and Philly be a terrible place without reporters fighting for what is just !!!

Kenneth Lipp, Preserve the free press by fulfilling your agreed to obligation to preserve Philadelphia papers - something only possible by allowing their talented writers fair conditions and compensation for their work,

bonnie trier,

Giovanni, We demand that you make a fair deal with the Newspaper Guild that protects the seniority of the reporters we know and trust. We demand that you fulfill your promise to preserve the newspapers that help make our city great.

Cristobal Slobodzian,

Elizabeth Norris,

William Phillips,

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Joan Herman,

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Ramona Johnson,

Debra Slattery,

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Steve Giegerich,

Pat Casey, Please Save Our Papers. Think not of yourselves but all of those who would be affected (employees, the people who read our papers, the committed advertisers, etc) Eliminating the paper of seasoned employees would put a devastating hole in the process for those new, younger ones coming on board. Not only would the content of the paper suffer, but how would they learn, who would they look to for advice? The City needs our papers and our well trained &amp; seasoned personnel. Please think with your hearts and not your pockets.

Michael Kropp,

Larry Goldberg,

Marilyn Potts,

Jane Swartz, This newspaper, where I worked as a copy editor for almost 30 years, is one of the very best in the U.S. I read it every day; I used to subscribe to it for my mom and my son (they enjoyed it, too), and I cannot imagine why the people who very recently bought our fine paper are even remotely considering this REPREHENSIBLE move to kill it off. SHAME!!!!

Jim Cummings, We need good faith efforts to save the paper and maintain its journalistic integrity, otherwise we wind up with an advertising vehicle with some uninformed commentary.

Helen Gibson,

Judith Farrell, Please don't give up on these newspapers. the city needs them.

Jillian O\'Connor,

Richard Aregood,

Carol A. Fritz, Thomas Jefferson knew that education and a well-informed public are essential to a free state. Neophyte writers need to be mentored and developed by the more experienced before they can adequately do the job of the Fourth Estate to inform the public well.

William Neff,

Anthony Gnoffo,

Jeff Corbett,

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xxxxxxxx, This is our only newspaper, please don't destroy it.

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Cynthia Burton, Very grateful and deeply moved by community support. Thankyou.

helen mason,

John Oliver Mason,

Kathy Brennan,

Juli Warren,

Jeff Ellis,

Robin Palley,

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John V. R. Bull, The public NEEDS The Inquirer to protect citizens from the politicians and others who might work against the public good. The Watchdog function is critical and newspapers are the only entities that can - and will - protect the public. You know that very well. If you did not intend to keep your promises when you bought the paper, why did you buy them? Keep your word. Keep the two newspapers. Do not betray the public trust that you willingly bonded with when you bought the papers.

Kathy Sheehan,

John J. Downes, MD, Our city and regioncan thrive only if we have in-depth, accurate information and thorough investigative reporting. This requiresd newspapers!

Walter Fox, The Inquirer and Daily News are the only media providing in-depth coverage of local government. Without them corrupt politicians would have a field day!

Karen Kennedy-Hall, Even though I moved to Florida, I still read the Inquirer and Daily News online every day. They're great newspapers and the citizens of the city really need objective news coverage.

carla callaway,

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Jim Cumming,

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xxxxxxxx, Don't put my Dad out of work.

john yeager,

Kevin Sheridan,

Kathy Dawson, This city needs and deserves real journalism!

Marjorie Daniels,

Ann Cohen,

jane cannon,

Iris Raylesberg,

Jenifer Marquis,

Kyle Little, Immediately following the loss of our country's newspapers will be the loss of democracy itself. All in the name of money.

Sandy McIlvaine, I am horrified by the idea that the paper I first got to know through "the funnies" and now enjoy every morning with my first cup of coffee is in jeopardy, along with its fine, award-winning group of reporters.

Joan McIlvaine, The Phila. Inquirer and Daily News are newspapers we can be proud of. Let's uphold and continue this tradition.

Nicolle Bizelli, Save all the newspapers!

Frank Custer,

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xxxxxxxx, I'm a Bulgarian journalist and I support the campaign.

xxxxxxxx, Cutbacks to the Inquirer and Daily News equal cutbacks to the city and its knowledge base. Who else will report honestly, ethically and extensively about our government, businesses and communities? No one.

James E. Roddy, The paper is not just a business; it is an important social institution that protects our freedom. A daily physical paper that covers local issues is vital to the health of a city and a community.

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JimmyBoy,

David Woo, How does stripping the value out of a newspaper benefit the community?

Mary Jane Fine, Newspapers serve a vital role in a democracy. Some newspaper owners seem to have forgotten that. Please remain among the enlightened.

Harriet Rubenstein, Our household has been an Inquirer subscriber for over 30 years. We rely on it for everything from school reporting to culture reporting. We need experienced, professional reporters covering our city and region.

david Sachs,

Wm Steinmetz,

xxxxxxxx, Live up to your commitment new owners!!!

Marc Anmuth, I read the Inquirer everyday

Sally Swift, What's next, "The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, Made in China"? We need knowledgeable reporters to maintain the critical balance of accountability provided by The Fourth Estate in our democracy. We already have too many neophytes so dazzled by technology and social media they confuse hard news with celebrity tweets. When does the greed stop? Save our newspapers!

Giovanna,

Marjorie Keen,

Patrick Chase, I continue to get the Sunday paper delivered to my address, even though I have also mostly migrated to the internet. Invest in the Sunday edition! It's great!